TORONTO —It would be easy for Cleveland to feel invincible after Monday night's wild Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, when six relievers strung together 25 outs in a 4-2 victory that left the American League Central champions one win from becoming, more simply, American League champions.
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That, of course, would not be Cleveland's style. A team that saw two of its top pitchers, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, go down with injuries at the end of the regular season knows that nothing is guaranteed, nothing comes easy and nothing can be taken for granted.

"We've got a lot more work to do," said Francisco Lindor, the amazing 22-year-old shortstop who so far has lived up to every bit of his prospect hype. "We've got 27 more outs. We can't get happy. We can't get laid back. We've got to respect the Blue Jays. They've got a great team and they'll have Sanchez on the mound who's one of the better pitchers in the game right now."

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Cleveland also has one of the better pitchers in the game going in Game 4, the 2014 Cy Young winner, Corey Kluber. The right-hander will be making his first career start on three days' rest, but is riding high having thrown 13.1 scoreless innings in the playoffs.

Kluber came out of Game 1 after throwing 100 pitches, a total he met or exceeded in 20 of his 32 starts this year, topping out at 115. He's a workhorse, and there's little worry about his efficacy in this scenario.

Plus, even though Cleveland used six relievers in Game 3, none threw more than 1 2/3 innings or 28 pitches. And when it comes down to brass tacks, there's nobody Cleveland would rather have on the mound.

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"He's been the ace of this ballclub for a while," outfielder Coco Crisp said. "You know, we feel confident with anybody out there, but obviously when you have Kluber on the mound, you have a little more confidence going out there."

Not only is Kluber the right choice to go for the sweep from that standpoint, he's the best choice from a logistical one.

"If we don't bring him back tomorrow and he pitches Game 5, we don't have a starter for Game 7," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "I mean, we have to physically have a starter. So this is the best way to do it. I mean, this is the only way to do it. There's no other way around it. We don't have another starter right now. It's not that difficult."

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With Bauer's drone maintenance mishap leaving his finger a bloody mess and his status going forward questionable, Cleveland's rotation is down to Kluber, Josh Tomlin (who would start either Game 5 on three days' rest or Game 6 on five days' rest) and rookie Ryan Merritt, who was slated as the Game 4 starter for a few fleeting hours Monday before all hell broke loose. He'd make most sense for Game 6, after an off day, if it comes to that.

The depleted rotation does not put Cleveland at a disad


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vantage for the World Series. Salazar, recovering from a forearm strain, threw a two-inning simulated game Sunday and is expected to be ready for the Fall Classic. And if you figured Bauer for Game 3,that would be 11 days out from his cut opening up and splattering blood all over the place Monday night.

"First thing I saw was blood on the rubber," Francona said. "I figured that wasn't a real good sign that things were going well. ... When I came off the mound after taking Trevor out, kind of the one thing that lifted my spirits a little bit, is the first guy I saw was Kluber."

That's the kind of effect an ace can have. As for all those World Series rotation thoughts, they depend on getting one more win. Kluber is just the guy to get it.

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